Luminous
by VickyVicarious
Summary: Zach has a simple goal: he wants the window seat. Zach/Warren


For all those of you waiting for the sequel to _Oblivious_ - it's coming. I'm sorry for the super-long wait.

Anyway, I've been wanting to write Warren paired with all of the group at least once, but especially the odd couples - Warren/Ethan and Warren/Zach - for a while now. That, and I got a review recently mentioning this pairing, and well, this story was born. Hope you enjoy.

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Zach is a bright boy.

Not in the sense that he's intellectually gifted, but in a more literal way. One might also say he simply glows, or even call him a beacon of light, and they would be doing nothing more than telling the (slightly stretched in the last instance) truth.

Because Zach really does glow. Quite apart from the neon clothes he favors, he possesses a superpower enabling him to light up at will. Of course, it's a little difficult to see unless the surrounding area is dark or at least dim, but it really is there. A yellow-greenish glow, lighting up his surroundings.

Okay, so it's a bit of a boring power, and some might argue that it's completely useless, but obviously those people don't know what they're talking about! For their information, Zach is never going to have to pay electric bills, and if someone – say, Coach Boomer – dropped their car keys on a dark night, they would be entirely at his mercy as he decided whether or not to help the unlucky person find them.

Zach points this out, nervously, when someone snorts at his bragging. This same someone levels him with a skeptical look, then turns back to his book. The bus rumbles silently through the air, and they pass a spectacular view that unfortunately Zach can't really enjoy since he got stuck with the aisle seat.

He really needs to learn how to stand up to Warren. Like, when he also discovers that his power is strong enough to blind people and he can fling balls of light that also happen to be acidic, and he gets a 100% on his history paper. Then. Then, he will stand up to Warren and demand the window seat as they ride the bus.

Or maybe he'll just demand a seat next to Warren, a steady one. That would be nice. Really nice – and Zach's obliging (plus he can't watch the view right now, so he's got nothing to do) so he'll tell you why.

Well, basically, there are lots of reasons to want to sit next to Warren. Will always sits with Layla now, and that's totally cool, of course, but it means that his best bud is out of the question. Ethan and Magenta always sit together because they have the same stop. Also they apparently knew each-other long before high school and while they aren't dating, they are very close in a quiet sort of way that it somehow seems wrong for even Zach to mess with. And other than Warren, that pretty much covers all of Zach's friends.

Warren isn't just a last resort, though. He's always quiet, which is something Zach actually likes (which will probably surprise a lot of people, but that doesn't mean Zach hates noise all of a sudden or anything; a little quiet every now and then is just nice). The seat next to Warren is _always_ empty. Warren emits these nice little waves of warmth that Zach is careful not to mention, which are _excellent_ on chilly days. Because Warren is the toughest guy in school, when Zach sits next to him on the bus, it gives him a sort of street cred, which is something he desperately needs.

All of these reasons are great ones. There are probably a couple other reasons that Zach's just not thinking of right now, too, but these are good ones. They explain why he likes sitting next to Warren rather nicely.

That's not to say that any of them ever factor into his decision-making process when he decides he wants to sit next to Warren, but they _are_ good reasons.

Oh! Another one: Zach and Warren are working on a project together (one of those 'how would you defeat this villain in this situation' scenarios, which are really the only times that Heroes and Sidekicks work together) and Warren is coming over to Zach's house to work on it. So it makes sense that they sit together, so Warren can know when to get off the bus.

And just for the record, Zach is not at all nervous about having Warren over at his house, probably in his room. He just doesn't care. Zach's a very cool guy, very chill, which is why it makes sense that sitting next to Warren, he feels like he's going to melt into the plastic seat he's sitting on.

But no. Not nervous.

**-xxx-**

Zach's bedroom matches his personality: it's bright and obnoxious and loud, and rather messy. Warren looks kind of disgusted, but that might just be because he's holding a tray of cookies Zach's mom forced on him. Warren probably doesn't like cookies, or anything sweet. He's way too manly for that.

(And Zach takes notice of that, because he doesn't want to ever upset or annoy Warren by giving him something sweet. It doesn't cross his mind that he annoys Warren by just being around, he's so bright and obnoxious and loud.)

Zach clears away a pile of laundry and two video games, and comes out of the closet to fight down a blush and try not to choke at the sight of Warren Peace sitting on his _bed_, cautiously nibbling a cookie.

(The word _cute_ comes to mind, and Zach instinctively flinches, throwing his hands up in front of his face; Warren can do pretty much anything and he'd probably choose right now to develop mind-reading powers, just so he could completely fry Zach's ass for ever thinking that word in relation to him. But even so, it's kind of true, what with Warren looking so totally out of place and everything.)

Warren sets the unfinished cookie down as soon as Zach comes into sight, and puts the tray aside.

"Let's get to work," he says, his first words since arriving, and Zach is jolted back into action, talking and walking and tripping and getting all the stuff they'll need, and tripping again, and talking on and cautiously sitting next to Warren.

They begin the project, and it's really not that hard. They'll probably finish today, something that Zach is of course glad about. It's not like he wants to spend extended amounts of time hanging out on his bed with Warren. Even if it is kind of nice, and pleasantly warm.

The only problem comes when they have to figure out how to utilize Zach's powers at all. And even though he knows that every Sidekick is going through this, or at least every one paired with a Hero as strong as Warren – it's humiliating, and he's fairly certain he's blushing. Warren eventually takes pity on him and draws up a strategy that involves Zach leading all the hostages out of the lair, through dark tunnels where they will have to follow his light.

(The whole thing was really difficult, though, because in reality, Zach's power does Warren less good even than anyone else; if Warren ever wants a light, all he has to do is ignite his flames a little bit. Well, unless he's in an area that contains a lot of metal, but even then a candle-sized flame would still probably work, which pretty much destroys any usefulness Zach may have had to offer.)

Zach is still afraid of Warren, despite everything, and yet he holds a childish sort of belief that the pyro can do anything. It's never been like that with Will, because Will is his friend and he knows him well enough to know better. Warren, despite being one of his best friends, has never really been Zach's _friend_. He's more of an idol, really, something to look up to and want to be more like. Zach's got a touch of Hero worship for the guy, which is incredibly fitting when you think about it.

So when Warren almost single-handedly finishes the project in a little over two hours, Zach is no more awed than usual, despite this being meant to take them most of the week. And Zach has free time, so he gets up and decides to walk Warren home, or at least as far as he can get before Warren decides to light him on fire.

Warren's a quiet guy, and his response to all of this is mostly just quiet grunts or nods, which Zach is okay with. Warren still scares him, for a multitude of reasons (many of which the other boy has no control over) and it would be worse if he suddenly started acting out of character and chatting animatedly.

So they set off, and Zach might notice Warren's hand dangling at his side, brushing against that awesome leather jacket of his, and if Zach thinks anything about that, it's surely not that it would be nice to hold that hand.

**-xxx-**

They are at a public bus stop when Warren nods dismissively at him, and Zach gets that this is supposed to be where he turns around; Warren has to take the bus home, it seems, and Zach of course isn't stupid enough to pay money just to find out where Warren lives or to spend a little tiny bit more time with him.

But he _does_ want to visit the store, so he mounts the steps behind Warren and sits down next to him (unfortunately, he got the aisle seat again, but at least the view he's missing isn't so excellent now that they're on the ground).

Warren can _growl_, Zach discovers, and that's both incredibly cool and insanely frightening.

Sitting next to Warren is great, even on this bus, and he savors the warmth; not because it's really cold or anything, but because it's just _nice_ and a confirmation that he's here with Warren.

It might not be so bad getting the aisle seat, Zach tries to convince himself. After all, if Warren turns homicidal on him (always a possibility) he has way more chance of escaping this way. But that's stupid reasoning, because if Warren ever decides to kill him, there won't be anything Zach can do about it. And when you come down to it, Zach just really wants that window seat; he wants to sit there and look out that window at the world passing by, and feel the heat from Warren on his other side, and know that he's really there, trapped between Warren and the glass, no possible escape.

It's not at all weird for Zach to daydream about something like this, by the way. He's sure lots of teenagers have perfectly mundane daydreams like that all the time, and it's not like he's unhealthily fixated on it, or anything.

**-xxx-**

The next day at school, Zach keeps pestering Warren, scared though he might be, because Warren had absolutely no right to throw him out of the bus. Even if they'd already passed three perfectly acceptable stops where he could have gotten out and done his shopping.

Warren ignores him as usual, or so Zach thinks until school is over and he's suddenly slammed up against a shady wall just outside of school, a hot hand imprinting his chest through the thin fabric of his shirt. Warren's face is ridiculously close and it's sort of funny that Zach is getting shoved around – essentially, bullied – by this guy who usually beats up the bullies.

Also amusing that no one is around to see it or rescue him; he's all alone with Warren and if his heart is thumping really fast that's just because he's scared and he has ADHD so that makes him very energetic anyway.

Warren has no patience for any excuses – of course not, this is _Warren_, and in the back of his head Zach thinks this whole scene is so awesome and badass that really he should be honored to be in it at all.

Among many other things about Warren, Zach has noticed that Warren likes to lean in to make threats; maybe because his glower is just that much scarier up close, or because he likes to totally overwhelm his victim with a wave of heat that just washes straight over them from head to toes, or maybe it's so he can read their minds better. Zach doesn't know.

But he does know that he's about the same height as Warren, even if he's sort of slumped against the wall, and when Warren leans really close like that and opens his mouth to tell Zach to do something, or more likely to _stop_ doing something, like following him around and annoying him, he's close enough that Zach only has to stretch his neck up a little bit and they're suddenly kissing.

(And it's warmer than anything, hot even, and Warren's lips are sort of dry but not entirely hard, they're really surprised-feeling which is only to be expected, and Zach sort of wants to see his expression but not enough to open his eyes, and since this is to be his last few moments alive, Zach just goes all out and lets it be a real _kiss_, and holy crap, he said it was hot, but he's melting right now, melting into a big glowing pile of goo, shivering and tingling and seriously, did he mention that he is liquidizing faster than Ethan?)

Oh, yeah, and Zach lit up the moment their lips met, so when Warren jerks his head back, his shocked features are lit by a pale glow. It actually sets them off rather nicely, and even Zach can't deny that Warren looks handsome in his light. He's a bit too stunned himself to say so, though; his lips feel like he's just used a balm called 'fire and acid' on them, not to mention his heart trying it's hardest to run away and leave his body behind.

Warren's shock disappears pretty quickly, to be replaced by a thoughtful expression, and if he wasn't still pressing Zach to the wall, Zach would be long gone. Will could protect him. Maybe. For a few seconds.

And it should come as no surprise to anyone that Zach is completely bowled over when Warren doesn't do anything violent at all. He just lets go of Zach, turns around, and walks away.

Zach doesn't know what is going on at _all_, and it's safe to assume he'd still be standing there six years from now if Warren didn't say, not turning around, "You'll miss the bus if you don't hurry up."

A slow smile blossoms on Zach's face, and you could call him bright just for that if you wanted to, because it's definitely lighting up his face. Of course, his glow is also still going full force, strong enough that you can even see it a little bit as he dashes out into the sun after Warren.

"Hey, Warren," Zach asks, dancing around the older boy in a fit of glee, "Can I have the window seat?"


End file.
